March update

Thanks to support from John Deere, Kondinin Group has engaged Dr David Stephens from Agrometeorology Australia to produce these maps for Kondinin Group members for those who are summer cropping and in preparation for the 2020 winter cropping program.

The maps produced as close to real-time after rainfall is recorded at more than 1000 real-time rain stations across the country.

Commentary

Soil profiles are finally starting to fill in the regions most affected by the last 3 years of drought. 

With recent heavy rain over New South Wales and eastern areas of Victoria there has been a jump in soil moisture in these regions.

Farmers having sown crops for animal feed are seeing good biomass production. Other areas not sown have good reserves forming for winter crops.

In other parts of the wheatbelt with higher moisture content levels, this moisture is more at depth after heavy rains in February in Queensland, Western Australia and parts of the southeast of the country. 

Since the February rain in the northern areas of Western Australia fell over a number of days but hot weather followed. Subsequently, a lot of moisture has since evaporated in that region.

The rains in the mid-northern half of the Western Australian wheatbelt have provided growers opportunity to implement soil amelioration options.

The South of WA and the South Australian peninsulas remain dry with minimal general rain in these areas.

These maps will be updated monthly thanks to continued support from John Deere.

PDF:  March 2020 Plant available soil moisture